


For Long Gone Cryptid Hunters

by Loupgaros



Series: The Cryptid Collection [4]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 76
Genre: Minor Character Death, Other, Swearing, elias talks to himself again, even if they're long gone, respect your fellow cryptid hunters, spoilers for calvin van lowe quest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:49:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24722587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loupgaros/pseuds/Loupgaros
Summary: A part 2 of sorts? Let's call it that. Elias, feeling a little fragile and guilty, decides to close this case. He owes it to a fellow cryptid hunter. Even if they were bloody stupid and did something that was... less than smart.
Series: The Cryptid Collection [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1787326
Kudos: 1





	For Long Gone Cryptid Hunters

Back at C.A.M.P, Elias stared at the poster.

It _was_ a good poster. Eye-catching in black, white and red, guaranteed to get attention. It had caught his and jogged too many memories. Shelley had done a good job and now would have no idea on how much of a good job she had done. 

He’d had to take a break. Beckley had been a memory jogged and jostled to the top and he’d had to have a breather. Even seeing that line where it had all happened, if he thought about it too much… No, no. He didn’t want to retread too much old ground. So he'd done some scavenging, rebuilt the crude shack he was taking as shelter, a few things for The Wayward. 

He’d pondered on the tape and the rising tide of guilt couldn’t be stopped. Poor Shelley. She’d been caught in the crossfire. Calvin’s interest, this mystery group, the mysterious Wolf and then the business. She’d just wanted to look after the business. That was fair, right? It was no wonder she wanted him safe. 

He sighed then packed his backpack. He owed it to them both. Shelley, to clear up what had happened. Calvin because.. what the hell had he got himself into?

———————–

Back to Lewisburg. It had been remarked by his lecturers that Elias’ mind worked in odd ways. He could be given something then he’d arrive at the right answer but not with the working you expected. His logic jumped from point to point and made no sense. But it got him where he needed to be. It simply just worked. 

Saying that, he was very surprised this monitoring network wasn’t larger. It wasn’t far from the taxidermist, but hadn’t spread out very far either. Surely a system of mirrors, light flashes, torches… That would have been operable. That could have worked. Or even Pete's radios. But he now had further instructions from this exercise and it was back to van Lowe’s to clear this up once and for all. 

In the basement, he gave everything a more critical look. Everything was a clue. The wolf head had told him this. And the notes were very specific.

Washer, dryer, calender.

That would look innocuous to anyone else but he knew Calvin operated like he did. It was all linked like in these notes

‘Clever fucker. But not clever enough. What were you hiding?’

The washer was going. So was the dryer. He’d had to double check the notes but it was right. That left the calender so… This one? Try this one. He pushed the pin in. 

It was correct. Doors slid open with a grinding sound and a grid highlighted in red buzzed and sizzled before him. Elias glanced at the card he’d picked up then shrugged. ‘Nice. But I’m going to see anyways. Shoulda worked in RobCo, all this knowledge. Wasted it down here.’

The grid was no barrier and beyond was another workshop. It was darker but somehow the lights had stayed on. He turned a light away as it glared into his eyes then took in the scene. 

This one was different. There was a robot manufacturing stand here with a monitor. Wait, was that… red on the monitor? He peered in then cautiously poked the red. It came away and smeared a little. ‘Shit’, he whispered. That bad feeling was creeping like a train up his spine.

Turning to survey the rest, he looked at the nearest thing taht wasn't red. _C. H Monthly_. Oh boy. He’d seen these out and about. Some cryptid societies back then had tried publications and it had been mixed results. The Collective never had. They just did the hunting. But this hadn’t been unusual to find. They never lasted and they were always short. 

His lips moved as he read the page. It wasn’t very long but the talk seemed familiar. Every cryptid society came to this. How could you attract a cryptid with another of their kind? _Was it possible?_

Elias had thought of that. At one point, he’d even made a moth costume. He’d abandoned it before dying the white sheets though because university work had stepped up. He’d even looked up moth pheremones. Carefully he laid the paper aside. That was an embarrassing moment to suddenly spring up.

Ah, a holotape. As if he hadn’t had enough of those. Okay, the Collective had their own but Elias always destroyed them after. This one was Calvin’s last, it looked like. That feeling of dread crept over him as he started to listen.

Sounds of metal. An Assaultron voice. Yep, that was Calvin. He was trying to… Oh. _Oh_. So _that’s_ what the code Calvin had hustled him aside for was being used for. Then more sounds and gurgling. Elias looked positively pale by the end.

‘Now I know what you wanted it for… But you should have asked me for the overwrite instructions as well. You idiot. You fucking idiot.’ Elias looked over at the monitor and the robot construction stand. ‘You tried to lure a Sheepsquatch… with a fake. Fucking hell.’ 

There was more. But he could see where this was going. Calvin had died because of a massive oversight and now this thing was loose. An assaultron that would baa randomly. He’d have laughed if it wasn’t so tragic.

The Sheepsquatch hadn't eaten Shelley's brother but it had killed him going exactly by its programming. 

———————-

Back at his C.A.M.P, he poked the Radstag slices cooking on the spit. Every so often, he’d mutter in disbelief.

Calvin had had balls. Big ones. He had believed so fervently in this creature that he’d created a robot to lure it but not only that, maybe trick others into seeing it too. It was brave. it was audacious. And pretty fucking stupid. 

Elias had thought of similar, barring involving robots. Not fooling, but luring and hoping it’d work, as his old moth costume would attest to. It hadn’t. Most cryptid hunters had tried it sooner or later. The comedy of hearing duck calls across foggy ground had to be heard to be believed. But there was no point really. They came to you, whether you wanted it or not. And he felt he owed it to Calvin to apologise. 

‘You were one crazy fucker. But you had a goal. And Calvin, if you can hear this where you are… Yeah. They do exist. It just would have torn you apart. But I reckon that’s how you’d have wanted to go.’ He looked upwards at the stars, thoughtful. ‘You’d have seen it at least. I’m not sure about the torn apart bit. But you were an odd one, you never know. Cheers.’ 

He liked to imagine a clink there as he downed his beer after raising it. Then he stood up. The lighthouse was starting to shine again. He grinned and took the cooked meat from the spit to place in his bag. He had his own mission in mind now.


End file.
